Bioorganic coatings are being increasingly used to promote mineralization on inorganic nanoparticles for bone repair, sensing, and environmental technologies. Researchers at Jeonbuk National University studied how two coating materials, zein and polydopamine, affect calcium phosphate formation on titanium dioxide nanoparticles in real time. They found that the coating's surface chemistry significantly affects initial nucleation and subsequent crystal growth, with polydopamine-coated particles accumulating about 37 percent more mineral mass than zein-coated particles.

Earth experienced several periods in its history when ice covered nearly the entire planet, known as snowball Earth events. A study at the Earth-Life Science Institute at Institute of Science Tokyo suggests that chemical weathering may have continued beneath continental ice sheets during these extreme glaciations. Their results indicate that such subglacial weathering could have consumed enough carbon dioxide to delay global warming and help explain why some snowball Earth episodes lasted much longer.

POSTECH Professor Jonghun Kam’s team identifies the role of typhoons in mitigating droughts through an analysis assuming a world without typhoons.

Earth sciences researcher find that the January 2025 Eaton fire’s daily carbon monoxide emissions far exceeded L.A. County’s average daily emissions from all human activity, posing a significant health and environmental threat.

Gabe Schwartzman, assistant professor of human geography in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is a co-principal investigator of a project funded through a $1 million Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant. The three-year collaborative research project will track and monitor the development of data centers in Tennessee, Georgia, and Virginia and their impact on rural communities.